My column from Sunday's Deseret News touches upon patent reform, which is actually a subject of strong interest to a range of Utah-based businesses.

“Innovation” is among the most highly prized civic and commercial virtues today. So much so that opposing sides in policy contests each claim its mantle.

Nowhere is this truer than in now-bubbling debate on Capitol Hill in Washington over patent reform. This isn’t a battle of David against Goliath. It’s a battle of Goliath against Goliath.

And the divisions aren’t based on political party. In the Senate, the co-sponsors of the bipartisan PATENT Act are deep-red Republicans Orrin Hatch of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and dark-blue Democrats Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Chuck Schumer of New York.

The bill, a convenient acronym for Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee June 4 on a 16-4 vote. On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee considered companion bipartisan legislation known as the “Innovation Act.”

The bills’ target is that frequently derided species known as the “patent troll”: those who use a bogus claim and impose a litigation toll on an innocent entrepreneur going about creating jobs and driving economic prosperity.